The Hill releases appeal on 23rd anniversary of occupation of Shusha

American newspaper The Hill published an appeal of the representative of the Azerbaijani community in the United States Lotfali Khoshbakht, entitled "Never forget Azerbaijan" on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of occupation of the Azerbaijani town Shusha by Armenian armed forces May 8, 1992, SIA informs with reference to AzerTac.

The article reads: “May 8 is the 23rd anniversary of the military occupation and destruction of the historic town of Shusha, which was once the centerpiece of a vibrant Azerbaijani classical music scene and home to the first opera in the Middle East. It was renowned for its musicians, composers and singers. Now it is a ghost town, a victim of Armenian destruction, occupation and systematic ethnic cleansing.

Until 1992, Shusha, the most important and best known city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, was 92 percent Azerbaijani. The occupation of Shusha followed the massacre of 613 Azerbaijani civilians by Armenian troops in the town of Khojaly just three months earlier.

As a member of the U.S. Azeris Network (USAN), on behalf of 400,000 Azerbaijani-Americans and more than 40 million Azerbaijanis worldwide, I urge the U.S. government to use its influence to start taking serious steps to implement United Nations Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of 1993, the General Assembly Resolution A/RES/48/114 and other GA resolutions. These resolutions call for “immediate complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces” of all Armenian military forces from Azerbaijan’s territories.

On behalf of the Azerbaijani-Americans, I implore lawmakers to do whatever is necessary to move this situation along to its rightful resolution within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan: